Colorado: 14 Dead After Mass Shooting During Batman Movie

AURORA, Colorado (AP) – A gunman opened fire early Friday at a Colorado movie theater on the opening night of the latest Batman movie, killing 14 people and injuring at least 50 others, authorities said.

People gather outside the Century 16 movie theatre in Aurora, Colo., at the scene of a mass shooting early Friday morning. It apparently was the worst mass shooting in the U.S. since the 2007 mass shooting on the Virginia Tech campus, when 32 people were killed.

President Obama said he was "shocked and saddened" by the "horrific and tragic" Colorado shooting.The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd at a multiplex theater in Aurora, where The Dark Knight Rises was playing.

"Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound, and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference.

Emergency crews swarmed the scene after frantic calls started flooding the switchboard, officials said. Officers ran in and told people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post newspaper. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.

Officers later found the gunman near a car behind the theater.

"A gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon (were) found inside," Oates said.

The suspect's name was not released. Oates said there's no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive. The suspect spoke of "possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with that potential threat," Oates said

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